Blast kills five soldiers and wounds four in Mali: army

Five soldiers were killed Friday and four others wounded in northern Mali when their vehicles were hit by an explosion, authorities said. “Two vehicles from the Malian armed forces were blown up by an improvised explosive device causing the death of five Malian soldiers and wounding four others,” an army statement said. Mali’s vast, desolate north fell under the control of the Tuareg-led rebels who allied with jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.